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Karzai Sworn in as Afghan Premier
KABUL, Dec. 22 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Hamid Karzai was sworn in as prime minister of Afghanistan's new interim government Saturday, replacing the ousted Taliban regime amid hopes he can help heal a nation torn apart by decades of war.
After the swearing in, outgoing President Burhanuddin Rabbani embraced the new leader to applause from tribal leaders and foreign dignitaries, including Gen. Tommy Franks, the U.S. commander of the coalition forces that helped drive out the Taliban.
"I promise you that I will fulfill my mission to bring peace to Afghanistan,'' Karzai said in a speech in both his native Pashto and Dari, Afghanistan's two primary languages.
"Our country, as result of the long war, has been distracted. We need hard work from all Afghans. Bearing in mind all these difficulties, our country is in need of support from the United Nations and all friendly countries. We should put our hands together to be brothers and friends. Forget the painful past,'' he said.
He smiled and nodded as the audience erupted in thunderous applause.
The new leader then swore in the other 29 members of his cabinet - including two women - who stood behind him on the dais.
The new government faces the staggering challenge of rebuilding a nation whose citizens are largely unprepared for a long, hungry winter and whose coffers were left empty by the deposed Taliban militia, which ruled Afghanistan for five years..
Security at the inauguration ceremonies was extremely tight. Armed British Royal Marines in camouflage uniforms - the vanguard of an international force mandated to protect the new government - patrolled outside the whitewashed Interior Ministry where the inauguration was taking place. Afghan police in uniform patrolled the city.
The ceremony began with a drum roll sounded as Rabbani arrived and walked on a red carpet past an honor guard of smartly dressed Afghan soldiers.
Special United Nations envoy Lakhdar Brahimi welcomed the dignitaries. "This is a momentous day for Afghanistan, and it is a momentous day for the United Nations and the international community as a whole," he said.
The new government signaled new life for Afghan women, repressed during the five-year Taliban regime.
"Our lives have just begun,'' said Najia Sohail Zara, a schoolteacher who fled her country in 1996.
The new government has six months to try to put the country on track, a formidable task in a nation whose state-run bank has been looted, where government employees have not been paid in five months and in which most of the infrastructure is in shambles.
Karzai, who carries the blessings of exiled King Mohammad Zaher Shah, must also try to unite a country where loyalties are given to warlords, many of whom have private militias and were heroes of the Afghan war against the Soviets.
After six months, a council of tribal leaders will convene to plan a two-year administration that will take Afghanistan toward a permanent constitution.
A convoy of 80 British Royal Marines entered Kabul on Friday, the first contingent of a multinational peacekeeping mission that will eventually comprise 3,000 to 5,000 troops charged with protecting the new interim government.
In Kabul, some Afghan leaders challenged the international force's mandate. Some members of the interim government say the peacekeepers will not be permitted to use military force, disarm belligerents or interfere in Afghan affairs.
The U.N. Security Council, however, authorized use of "all necessary measures" to allow the new government and the troops themselves "to operate in a secure environment."
Meanwhile, news agencies reported that Afghan soldiers arrested three suspected armed Taliban fighters on Saturday in the compound of the Interior Ministry where the new interim administration is to be sworn in later in the day.
"There were three of them. The looked suspicious and we stopped them and found out that they were Taliban people," said one officer in the compound.
A second soldier said that the men were armed.
The three had been taken away for interrogation by members of the security force led by incoming defense minister Mohammad Fahim.
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